Message from the Director

An image of Chris Burgess

Welcome to the Arts Management Program at the College of Charleston! Our program prepares students to become leaders, managers, and integral members of arts organizations. The courses in the program emphasize management, organization, decision-making, and problem-solving skills relevant to the creative sector. Internships and participation in the School of the Arts and community arts organizations reinforce classroom experiences. We are fortunate to have local artists, administrators, managers, and other arts professionals engage our students in the classroom.

We strongly encourage students to pursue additional studies in the fine arts, business, or related disciplines to complement arts management coursework. Common double majors and minors include business, marketing, communication, and the visual and performing arts. 

Learn more by visiting our page, Getting Started. Additionally, we encourage prospective students to arrange in-person and virtual meetings with me or other members of the faculty.

I hope to hear from you soon!

Chris Burgess, Program Director

Mission

The Arts Management Program prepares students for careers and engagement that advance a resilient creative sector. Through a multidisciplinary curriculum, faculty mentorship, and experiential learning, the program emphasizes strategic thinking, collaboration, and innovation in arts leadership.

Vision

Through intentional and comprehensive education, the Arts Management Program advances equity and inclusion to foster effective scholarship, stewardship, and leadership in the arts.

Diversity Statement

The faculty and staff of the Arts Management Program and the Graduate Certificate in Arts and Cultural Management embrace an inclusive community of people from various backgrounds, experiences and thoughts. This diversity includes ethnicity, race, age, philosophies, socio-economic status, gender and sexual orientation, language, regionality, social and life experiences, religious beliefs and affiliations, political views, and heritage. All are celebrated by our program.

Commitment to Anti-racism and Justice

The Arts Management Program at the College of Charleston joins the world in mourning George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and the painfully long list of Black men, women, and children whose lives have been lost to police brutality and racial violence. We unreservedly condemn racial injustice in all its forms and stand in solidarity with all who are demanding a different future for ourselves, our children, and our communities.

As educators and arts managers, we recognize our unique position of leadership and commit ourselves to embracing this responsibility. Racism and systemic oppression of any kind has no place at the College of Charleston, and we will proactively prevent it from taking place in our spaces. As a program, we recognize the power of the arts in socio-cultural change and will ensure that our future arts managers are equipped to facilitate that change in service to communities of color. 

We support President Hsu and the College of Charleston community in our collective efforts to eliminate racism of any form. We also adopt the following commitments made by the Association of Arts Administration Educators (AAAE): (1) examine our standards of education through an anti-racist lens, to eliminate racist and exclusionary language and practices; (2) face the injustices we have been part of perpetuating in the past, and conduct our work in a way that makes us accountable to a higher standard; (3) listen to and learn from criticisms of our history and practices; and (4) share our knowledge base and expertise to support anti-racist work

Join us as we actively work toward a more just and equitable tomorrow. #BlackLivesMatter

The Faculty and Staff of the College of Charleston Arts Management Program